Managing-Player-Concerns-in-SM-Worlds

In my last article titled “End of Season Musings in SM Worlds” I said that my Castilla in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) had now completed a full season since the changes that we made to the player concerns feature.

Last season I had 21 first team players with an average rating of 92. I ended up winning both the Spanish league and SMFA Cup and reached the semi finals of the Spanish Cup. I also had a successful season off the pitch as I made a profit of 89.7M (or 19.7M if you exclude my transfer activity).

However, what I’m impressed with the most is that during the course of the season not one single player developed a concern. Before the season started I thought that I’d be hit hard by the changes that were made due to having numerous high rated players. I made one or two transfers because you could argue that I had one to many high rated attacking players. This meant that I went into the season with a more balanced squad.

The following is from the Help article titled “Player Concerns”:

  • Your 5 highest rated players and those rated 94 or higher expect to play in approximately 80% of the number of Turns;
  • Players rated 92 or higher expect to play in approximately 75% of the number of Turns;
  • Players that would expect to be in your first choice line-up and those rated 90 or higher will expect to play in approximately 65% of the number of Turns;
  • Players that would expect to be a substitute if you selected your first choice line-up and those rated 89 or higher will expect to play in approximately 30-40% of the number of Turns.
  • The rest of the players within your squad will only expect to play a few (if any) of the number of Turns.

Throughout the season I rotated when required due to playing additional domestic and continental cup games as well as having players injured or suspended. This ensured that my squad players got sufficient game time as well. I also made use of substitutions because irrespective of what minute a player is substituted on it is classed as half an appearance. All of this meant that I didn’t fall foul of the rules that are in place governing player concerns.

It also helps that in my squad I don’t actually have any players that I don’t need. I think this is important because sometimes you can keep hold of players just for the sake of it. This can cause problems because you are then required to give them game time at the expensive of players you actually value. This has happened in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) and it has come as no surprise to see those players handing in a transfer request.

Having a glance at the current Concern List and then looking at it in further detail you can easily understand why they have concerns. For example there is a 90-rated goalkeeper currently on a Level 3 concern due to Lack of Games. He has played 18 games over the past 2 seasons. It makes you wonder why they haven’t tried to use him to get an outfield players because their current No1 is also a 90-rated. The manager simply needs to make a decision of which goalkeeper he prefers and/or who has the greatest potential.

There are numerous other examples but I won’t go into them all. However, I will state that if you have a lot of players that are similar rated and for the same position then you will run into problems. This is because they will all expect to play the same number of games over the course of the season and you’ll struggle to keep them all happy.

There are some players on the Concern List who don’t fall into the above category and I’ll explain why they are different. I always keep my eye on the list and there are players on there that’ll make you scratch your head wondering why the manager isn’t playing them. However, when you look into it further you’ll notice that 9 times out of 10 it’s because the manager doesn’t log in regularly. This means that they aren’t rotating their squad and are playing the same team week-in-week out. Naturally when this happens their players will develop concerns and rightly so.

So what advice would I give? Keep a well balanced squad. Rotate your players.  Make use of substitutions. Finally sell players that you don’t need and don’t simply hog them for the sake of it. After all, if you’ve got the following to choose from: 94, 94, 96, 94, 99, 95, 94, 93 and a 99 for your attackers (yes this is a real example that I’ve come across), then you can’t complain when they are developing concerns because that is player hogging plain and simple.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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League-Table-Blog

Our slick new design for the desktop that gives the game a modern feel is now being introduced to all managers in SM Worlds over the next week.

This new light design has been developed with the help of feedback from our community. The most notable introduction is a left-hand menu which makes navigation easier.

We feel that these changes make it more similar to the old interface but with a good lick of paint to help give it a more modern feel.

2D-Beta-Matchday

We have also brought the various scouting features to the fore. They are Scout Youth Players, Scout Opposition, Scout First Team Players, Scout Squad Players, Scout Player and Analyse Your Squad. These features are very popular among managers and all of the different aspects of scouting are now located within one area called Office.

New-Light-UI

The new design also includes a 2D matchday experience which is currently in Beta. You can read my thoughts about this in a past article called “Thoughts on 2D Matchday Experience“.

2D-Beta-Matchday

The new interface has evolved a lot in the last few months and we feel that now is the time to roll it out to all managers.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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End-of-Season-Musings

Season 22 in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) is now drawing to a close and now is a good time to reflect on a few things.

I wrote an article the other week titled “Treble Dream & Recreating the “Invincibles” on Soccer Manager Worlds“. It was another case of déjà vu as I faced the same problems as at the end of season 21 – fixture congestion! I knew that winning the treble as well as remaining undefeated in the league would be a hard task due to 5 games in 8 days. Something had to give so I decided to sacrifice my league games and go for the cups:

  • Wednesday 15 June League
  •  Friday 17 June Spanish Cup Semi Final
  • Saturday 18 June
  • Sunday 19 June SMFA Champions Cup Semi Final Leg 2
  • Wednesday 22 June League

I conceded a last minute goal in the Spanish Cup Semi Final and then lost on penalties. On reflection it was probably best that I didn’t reach the final as that would’ve meant playing on Tuesday 21 June as well. By that time my players would’ve been crawling on to the pitch due to burnout. I was dealt another blow the next day as I lost my first league game of the season. I had to play some of the players from the Semi Final defeat as well as several young up-and-coming players due to saving my strongest XI for the SMFA Cup Semi Final Leg 2.

Hats off to Granada as they outplayed me and became the first team in the Spanish league to inflict a defeat on my Castilla. I was somewhat disappointed because I only had to avoid defeat for two more games to have an “invincibles” season. I had a feeling I’d slip-up here due to sacrificing the league (as I was already 15 points clear) and concentrating on the cups.

It now meant that the return leg against Morecambe in the SMFA Cup was a game that I just couldn’t afford to lose otherwise the end to my season would’ve been a catastrophe! I had the slight advantage over Morecambe after drawing the first leg 0-0 at home. I were also after revenge having lost to them in the final last season.

Thankfully I didn’t slump to a third defeat in as many days and I progressed to the final to face a very strong Milan side under new management. My final league game of the season was meaningless as my hopes of  having an “invincibles” season had already been dashed. Therefore it was a case of resting all of my key players ahead of the SMFA Cup Final.

I’d won this competition on 3 previous occasions and this included back to back titles in season 16 and 17. After losing the final last season I was determined to win the most prestigious trophy this time round. I usually play 4-3-3 and I was contemplating on a tactical switch before I noticed that Milan played 3-5-2. On checking their previous fixtures it looked like they didn’t deviate from this formation. I knew if they stuck to this once again and I played 4-3-3 the result should go in my favor.

I won the game and claimed my fourth SMFA Cup and i’m sure my Castilla have now won the tournament the most times in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) but I may need to double check that. Milan have a good manager at the helm and a strong team. However, just like I thought they stuck to 3-5-2 and that formation can come undone against a manager playing 4-3-3. I’m not going to go into all of the reasons why because this article would get too long and it’d be best doing a separate one about formations and tactics in Soccer Manager.

I can’t complain how my season ended as I won my ninth league title and the SMFA Cup for the fourth time. Could I also have won the Spanish Cup and completed an “invincibles” season? Possibly! However, it’s a hard ask due to taking the decision to have a small squad to keep a reign on my expenditure as well as preventing any of my players developing concerns. My next article will be about the latter because I’ve now completed a full season since the changes that we made to the player concerns feature and it’ll tie in nicely with a previous article titled “Squad Management in Soccer Manager Worlds“.

It’s also been a full season since the changes we made to prize money, how attendances and stadium building works and player wages. At the start of the season my stadium capacity increased to 31,284 and I’ve averaged 30,667 fans each home game. This was the eighth highest attendance in the Spanish First Division and due to my success it could once again be increased as we move into a new season.

Due to being successful on the pitch I’ve also won 54.3M in prize money over the course of the season. This has resulted in my Castilla making a profit over 19.7M if you exclude my transfer activity. So as a small club and one that is successful I’m benefiting from the changes that we made earlier in the year. It also means that I can successfully maintain a strong first team of 21 players with an average rating of 92.

If I include my transfer activity then I have made a profit of 89.7M over the course of the season. Anyone can make a profit in the transfer market and I wrote an article titled “Advice on How to Be Successful in the Transfer Market” earlier in the year. If you’ve not yet read that article then I recommend it as bed time reading.

So season 22 has been a sucess on and off the pitch and I’m already looking ahead to next season. I’m already looking to make changes to my Castilla as I need to heed my own advice within “Why do Great Teams Come to an End of Soccer Manager?“.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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Treble-Dreams

Back in January I wrote about my “Quadruple Dream and Impact of Recent Financial Changes” as season 21 in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) was coming to a close. I said that I faced a dilemma as I had 7 games in 10 days and this busy schedule would take it’s toll on my small squad. Something had to give and I sacrificed the Spanish Cup Final in order to concentrate on both the league and SMFA Cup Final.

This article was followed up a few weeks later with “SMFA Cup Heartbreak & Sibling Rivalry” as I wrote about how I fared. I sealed my first league title since season 17 but lost the SMFA Cup Final to a very strong Morecambe.

Roll on a season and it’s a case of déjà vu.

I’m chasing a treble this time but face the same problems as last season – fixture congestion!

This time round I have 5 games in 8 days:

  • Wednesday 15 June – League
  •  Friday 17 June – Spanish Cup Semi Final
  • Saturday 18 June – League
  • Sunday 19 June – SMFA Champions Cup Semi Final Leg 2
  • Wednesday 22 June – League

I’d argue that i’m in a slightly better position though as I’ve already wrapped up the Spanish title for a second consecutive season. My league rivals Valencia lost their last fixture which meant that I went 15 points clear at the top of the table.

So you’d think that this time round I can sacrifice my league fixtures to try and reach both the Spanish Cup and SMFA Cup finals. There are caveats associated with this though because I’m currently unbeaten and close to having an “invincibles” season. In 21 seasons I’ve never gone an entire league season unbeaten and I said this was one of my aims when I wrote about “Recreating the “Invincibles on Soccer Manager Worlds“.

I’ve said on numerous occasions that I only have a small squad. This is because I want to keep a rein on my finances as well as ensure that I don’t hog players that I don’t actually need. So something will have to give but the question is what?  Do I sacrifice the hopes of a treble so that I join the hall of fame and become one of the “invincibles” or do I hit that idea on the head and try and win the treble?

Whatever I decide it’ll certainly be an interesting end to the season!

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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Who-Do-Great-Teams-Come-to-an-End

The great Hungarian manager, Béla Guttmann, managed 22 different clubs in 13 different countries. He never stayed at a club more than 3 seasons because by his own admission, “the third year is fatal”. His theory was that if a manager stays at a club more than that, his players became bored or complacent and their opponents began to work them out.

There is some truth to three years being the maximum lifespan of a great team but there are many specific causes for this. I’d argue that one of the biggest problems is that players get old and therefore a solution to this problem is for the manger to stay put and for the players to change. This is the strategy that Sir Alex Ferguson used during his 26 years at Manchester United and also what Arsène Wenger has done in the 20 years he has been the manager of Arsenal.

I’ve been the manager of Castilla in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) since the Summer of 2007. Just like Ferguson and Wenger, i’ve been the manager of my club for a long period of time, during which i’ve built many sides that could compete for and won honors.

I’m fully aware of the dangers of building a great team and being content with what you have because you are winning honors on a regular basis. I’ve seen this happen in Game World ID 3065. However, you should never let your team stagnate as I believe that you need to be consistently active in the transfer market to ensure sustained success.

I stay ahead of the game using the methods i’ve outlined in “Advice on How to be Successful in the Transfer Market“.

Bayern Munich have completed back-to-back domestic doubles and won the Bundesliga three years in a row. However, they’ve already signed Renato Sanches and Mats Hummels ahead of the 2016/17 season to “freshen-up” their team. Last Summer Douglas Costa, Arturo Vidal, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman were signed. This is a nice balanced mixture of up-and-coming talent as well as established players.

Bayern already have a good team but are keeping it fresh with their latest signings. They’re stopping it stagnating and going into decline. Numerous clubs that are well managed do this year after year. That’s why it’s no surprise to see these teams have sustained success year after year.

I wrote an article earlier in the year titled “Advice on How to be Successful in the Transfer Market“. In the article I talk about the strategies that i’ve used over the years and still do even now. The article ties nicely in with what i’m writing now because I use those strategies to keep my team fresh and to prevent it stagnating and going into decline.

I never stand still in the transfer market. I’m constantly assessing my team and deciding who to keep and who to sell. This way I’ve always got a competitive team full of established players at or near their peak as well as up-and-coming players with lots of potential.

I’ve seen some good squads stagnate and then decline in Game World ID 3065 over the years. This can happen to anyone if you aren’t on the ball, all players eventually decline but some faster than others. It’s not just in my Game World that this happens in but others as well. Just join an old Game World and you’ll see many fallen giants and clubs that were once minnows dominating.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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New-Light-UI

We relaunched Soccer Manager Worlds to celebrate our 10th anniversary towards the end of 2015. It contained many exciting new features and updates which you can read about here.

One of the updates was a slick new design for the desktop that gave the game a modern feel and this was developed with the help of feedback from our community. This redesign was done in tandem with our new app so that the interface of both were the same. The idea behind it was that it helped you when you switched from one platform to the other.

Your feedback helps drive the game forward. This has always been the case. All feedback whether posted on our forum, social media, via in-game PM or email is passed on to the development team.

Due to this we have made several more changes to the new desktop interface, most notably introducing a left-hand menu (which makes navigation easier) and making it lighter. We feel that these changes make it much more similar to the old interface but with a good lick of paint to help give it a more modern feel.

We have also brought the various scouting features to the fore. They are Scout Youth Players, Scout Opposition, Scout First Team Players, Scout Squad Players, Scout Player and Analyse Your Squad. These features are very popular among managers and all of the different aspects of scouting are now located within one area called Office.

2D-Beta-Matchday

When we relaunched the multiplayer game to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we also introduced a new match engine and we followed this up with a 2D matchday experience in Beta within certain Game Worlds. I shared my experience of this last month and you can read all about that here. My thoughts still haven’t changed as I still believe that its added another dymanic to my experience and i’ve found myself even more immersed in the game.

The 2D matchday experience in Beta has now been rolled out game-wide but it is only available within the new interface. Please remember that this is still in Beta and there might be one or two quirks.

I’m sure that you’ll enjoy the new 2D matchday experience along with the rest of the changes that we have made. Please don’t forget to give feedback as this helps drive the game forward.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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Recreating-the-Invincibles

My home town team, Preston North End, became football’s first “Invincibles” when they won the inaugural Football league competition. Preston completed the 1888/89 season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup (which also meant that they were the first team ever to achieve the “Double”).

Only a handful of clubs have followed in Preston’s footsteps since 1889 and finished a season unbeaten in some of the world’s top leagues. These are Panathinaikos (1963/64), Benfica (1972/73 and 1977/78), Perugia (1978/79), Internacional (1979), Milan (1991/92), Galatasaray (1985/86),  Beşiktaş (1991/92), Arsenal (2003/04),  and FC Porto (2010/11 and 2012/2013).

This is something i’ve tried to replicate with my Castilla in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065). However, despite being in the Game World since day one when it opened (back in the Summer of 2007), i’ve never achieved this feat after completing 21 seasons.

The closest that I came to being the first “Invincibles” manager in the Spanish league was during season 16. I went through the first 35 games unbeaten, winning 27 and drawing 8, sat on 89 points with a 15 point lead. Then I suffered a mini collapse losing my next two games and drawing my last game of the season.

I’ve not come close to replicating that seasons form until now, season 22. We’re just past the halfway point of the season, having played 22 games and my Castilla are currently unbeaten in the league with 21 wins and a draw.

I’d like to think that I could carry on this form and finish the season unbeaten and that is my number one aim. However, this isn’t an easy task as it’s quite remarkable to go through an entire league season unbeaten and this is evident with only 12 teams in the world’s top leagues ever achieving this.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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Anderlecht-SMW

Starting playing Soccer Manager was one of the best things I have ever done. I love football, know a lot about a number of players and if it’s possible, I watch it every day.

When you become a manager, there are for me, 2 important things to consider: Which club do you want to manage and do you want quick success and trophies.

Choosing my first club.

I’m have been playing for 3 and a half years now with Anderlecht, which is the club of my heart. But why did I choose to start managing them? They were playing in division 4 and did not have any big name players. The reason was simple. I wanted the challenge of starting at the bottom and leading them to the first division. I had some funds available for buying players, which was important, particularly when you take a club at the bottom. You need to be in a position to buy better players, so that you can begin your journey to the top.

Trophies

When you start the game, the ultimate aim is off course to win a lot of trophies. So, If you take for example Barcelona (If you can find one) you are sure that you can win a trophy in the first 3 seasons, if all the good players have not been sold. But I wanted the challenge of creating my own starting 11, with a key focus on looking for young prospects who could hopefully develop into top players after a few years. That of course means that it will take time, but it is very satisfying and makes you smile when you see these players ratings increase. Trophies are important, but they are not the only objective in my life as a manager. Of course, after playing 3 seasons, I won division 2, 3 and 4.  I have to say that it did give me a boost when I led my team to the top tier and I became a manager in division 1.

How do I play?

I’m not a manager who changes my team’s tactics every week. I don’t remember why I changed the first time, I think it was after struggling in division 1. 7 seasons of the same thing. You will probably think that it’s not a good thing to stick with the same tactics, but if you are winning, you stay in Division 1 and if you win a cup, and your mind isn’t for changing. Now I’m playing with different tactics. Also with other teams I’m changing more. If I play against a strong team I go more defensive, and you know what? 10/12 was the result. Before that is was 0/12. I’m still learning.

It’s also important to buy young players. Don’t wait for them to become famous. Other teams will buy them and you will have to pay a lot more for them. You can buy 10 youngsters, but only 1 off them may be in your team later. It’s always important to be on the lookout for new young talents.

Last season with Anderlecht was the best I have ever experienced! Not only did I win division 2, but I also won the cup for the second time and experienced my first success in the SMFA competition! It a similar situation to what Leicester have achieved this season. It’s like a miracle that I have managed to win the hardest competition. In the semi-final I defeated Manchester United (2nd in division 1) and then there was the final against Atletico, who were the winners of division 1. I was already happy to be in the final with my little club. It was like winning the Champions league in real life. A great feeling. And that gives me the drive to look at my club on a daily basis, searching for new talents and hoping that in a few seasons i can win another trophy.

About the author – Maarten Bruneel

Maarten lives in Belgium and has been playing Soccer Manager Worlds for three and a half years. He has a love for football in general and supports Anderlecht

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SMW-Custom-Game-World

Many years ago my younger brother was introduced to a play-by-mail football manager game. A few weeks later both myself and my older brother also joined. This was in the mid-1990s when Serie A was the league to follow and there were a glut of football management games for the PC.

Even though the play-by-mail was a simple concept, it was an addictive game and most importantly it was social.

There was something about filling your turn-sheet in by hand and posting it off before the deadline of when your turn was going to be played. The thought of writing numbers on a grid of where you wanted your players to play and ticking boxes for your tactical instructions will probably amuse the younger generation, but it’ll bring back memories of those who are over-30.

It also generated excitement waiting for your results booklet to be delivered through your letter box by the postman and most days I hoped that this would happen before I set off for school.

It also generated tension as you wanted to find out if you’d bid the most for a player who’d just been added to the database for example.

How did we negotiate transfers with other managers? We picked up the phone and called them! I remember on numerous occasions calling managers from my league and asking to speak to the [insert club name] manager so that we could hammer out a transfer.

I also competed in the same leagues as my brothers and their friends. This made getting one over them in the transfer market or the league extra special.

In a way our multiplayer game has many similarities with the play-by-mail that I used to play. You set your tactics. Make transfer offers. Interact with other managers. Wait for your result to come in. Watch your game and either celebrate or despair at the end result.

Since day one I have enjoyed competing in leagues with friends and family and like with the play-by-mail, you can’t beat the satisfaction of getting one over them.

We always encourage managers to play in the same leagues as their friends and family because from experience this is the best way to play. That is the main reason why we introduced the Custom Game World initiative in December 2015.

There is however one area of the game that we are wanting to improve and we are already undertaking the work to do this. It is to make the game even more social because we believe that is what makes a multiplayer football management game.

Some Game World News Feeds are buzzing with activity and that is brilliant to see, but others are like the Mary Celeste! Some managers also interact away from the game on our forums or even set up their own blogs like the excellent Top 100. This is something we want to embrace and also move into the game.

That is why we are taking a two pronged approach to improve the social connectivity in Game Worlds by improving the News Feed and also the social aspects of the multiplayer game. In a nutshell we want to make it easier and better for managers to interact with one another.

These are some of the things that will be introduced or improved:

  • Improved News Feed:
    • Like button;
    • More share buttons to Facebook, twitter etc;
    • Similar style to social networks:
      • Show manager name / picture first,
    • Auto share more information such as:
      • Records;
      • Big results;
      • Internationals.
    • More sharing of your Club Messages.
  • Make Manager List more prominent:
    • Box on first page on both app & desktop;
    • Show list of who’s recently been online;
    • Slide up when manager comes online – app.
  • Friend / social buttons more prominent.

We believe that with these changes (along with a whole host of other improvements that i’ve not touched on) it’ll make the game more social and interactive because that is what helps make a multiplayer game.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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2D-Matchday-Gold-7

Last December we introduced a new match engine to Soccer Manager Worlds, and we followed this up with a 2D Matchday Experience in March.

The 2D Matchday is currently in Beta and is only available in Gold Championships at this stage. I thought I’d share my experience to date as I’m currently competing in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) as Castilla.

In the single player game there has been a 2D Matchday for some time, but in the multiplayer game, we have what you call “old school” commentary. You would have found the same feature in many of the traditional, management games of the past such as Championship Manager, Premier League Manager, Ultimate Soccer Manager and so forth.

The first time I enjoyed a 2D Matchday within a football management game was in 2003 when it was introduced into the Championship Manager series for the first time. It brought with it a whole new experience as I could now see my players carrying out my instructions as dots on a screen. Yes, it was basic, but it did the job, and it still does to date.

Naturally the next step in this evolution is a 3D Matchday Experience, but that’ll have to come later.

I suppose the joy of playing a football management game is that, for a moment, you slip into a fantasy world where you become a football manager. You make tough decisions in the transfer market, try and drag your team out of relegation or pull off that win to keep you top of the table and so forth.

Likewise, when you’re watching the traditional match commentary you’re also using your imagination into how the action is unfolding. I’ve found that this is made more vivid with the 2D Matchday, which was introduced into Soccer Manager via Game World ID 3065 before any other and I’ve now experienced many a matchday in 2D.

It has added another dynamic to my Soccer Manager experience. I’ve found myself more immersed in the game as I’m screaming at tiny dots running around the pitch in front of me and getting odd looks from my wife in the process as my No9 dot skies a clear cut chance over the bar! It’s even piqued my daughter’s interest, and I now find her watching the game with me.

I’m struggling to recall the last time that I clicked on the View Match button to watch the traditional commentary, as now I just click on the “Play 2D Match Beta” button. It works seamlessly on both the desktop and app. I’ll take that as a positive seeing it is still in Beta.

Yes, it does still have one or two quirks which we’re currently ironing out, but once we have finished, I see no reason it can’t be rolled out game wide for everyone to enjoy. In the meantime, if you want to experience it then head over to a Gold Championship in the multiplayer or check out the short highlights video.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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